I was looking for birds at Wilson Hill Wildlife Management Area on Sunday but the birding was rather slow. As I sometimes do when birds aren't cooperating I started looking for insects and noticed a numbers of adult small milkweed bugs on some of the roadside milkweed plants. This is one of a number of insect species that specializes on milkweed, of which the Monarch is most famous.

We've got zinnias and cosmos still blooming in the garden.  Nice color in August.

This is a nice paddle on two ponds that are fed by the West Branch of the Oswegatchie. The northern part of Long Pond is home to the Oswegatchie Education Center and is pretty busy with kids enjoying the Adirondack summer. The day I paddled was also the day that the kids were taken up for floatplane rides. From Lond Pond, you can find a channel to head upstream on the West Branch, but it soon becomes a rock garden. I paddled about 4 miles.

A nice paddle on the Soft Maple Reservoir, part of the Beaver River power project. Along with the lake, I paddled up Fish Creek until the water became too shallow to continue. I put in about 5 miles for the day. I launched from Brookfield Power's Soft Maple campground ($5 day use fee). This is quite a nice campground and would make a nice base camp for some more of the Beaver River paddling.